remove duplicate groups in contacts
I have hundreds of duplicate groups in my contacts. How can they be removed?
iPhone 6s, iOS 14
You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
đź’ˇ Did you know?
⏺ If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions... Learn more >
⏺ If you don't see your iCloud notes in the Notes app... Learn more >
⏺ If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions... Learn more >
⏺ If you don't see your iCloud notes in the Notes app... Learn more >
I have hundreds of duplicate groups in my contacts. How can they be removed?
iPhone 6s, iOS 14
Hi Geraldfromnh!
The short answer is: Yes.
Click “All Contacts”, on the top menu, click on “Card”, then “Look for duplicates” (If I recall correctly).
Then, once duplicated are found, it gives the option to “Merge”.
The king answer is:
Thats probably the easiest way to do it. It’s also good to know however first what default account is set in Contacts on all your devices, and what current contacts you have for each account, as they are split a lot of the time, due to different devices having a different account set as the default.
This article may help:
If you see duplicate contacts after setting up iCloud contacts:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203565
Although the same principal can be used for other account contacts.
Its possible that you have several accounts syncing your contacts, if this is the case, and you have say:
20 contacts in iCloud, and:
The same 20 accounts in Google (Gmail),
Then when you click on “All Contacts”, you may see two of each.
A good way to test on Mac is in System Preferences > Internet Accounts.
Check each account on the left sidebar to see if contacts are syncing, you can easily un-check “Contacts” on one account, go back to Contacts and see the difference.
Or, while in Contacts, click on each account separately (Google, iCloud, etc). To see what’s in that particular account.
It’s always best to keep a default Contacts account on all your devices, that way if you create a new contact on your phone, and the default Contacts on your phone and Mac are both set to iCloud, then it adds to your iCloud contacts on both, and not Gmail on one and iCloud on the other, Hope that makes sense.
Here’s a good guide:
https://support.apple.com/guide/contacts/add-contacts-from-icloud-google-and-more-adrb7e5aaa2a/mac
Likewise, also before making any changes, it’s good to export your contacts for each account as a backup before making any changes:
Export and Archive Contacts on Mac:
https://support.apple.com/guide/contacts/export-and-archive-contacts-adrbdcfd32e6/mac
Also, once exported, you can, if you need to, combine the contacts from each account, then choose one default account to prevent confusion in the future and have them all sync together harmoniously!
All the best let me know if you have any questions glad to help if I can!
Hi Geraldfromnh!
The short answer is: Yes.
Click “All Contacts”, on the top menu, click on “Card”, then “Look for duplicates” (If I recall correctly).
Then, once duplicated are found, it gives the option to “Merge”.
The king answer is:
Thats probably the easiest way to do it. It’s also good to know however first what default account is set in Contacts on all your devices, and what current contacts you have for each account, as they are split a lot of the time, due to different devices having a different account set as the default.
This article may help:
If you see duplicate contacts after setting up iCloud contacts:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203565
Although the same principal can be used for other account contacts.
Its possible that you have several accounts syncing your contacts, if this is the case, and you have say:
20 contacts in iCloud, and:
The same 20 accounts in Google (Gmail),
Then when you click on “All Contacts”, you may see two of each.
A good way to test on Mac is in System Preferences > Internet Accounts.
Check each account on the left sidebar to see if contacts are syncing, you can easily un-check “Contacts” on one account, go back to Contacts and see the difference.
Or, while in Contacts, click on each account separately (Google, iCloud, etc). To see what’s in that particular account.
It’s always best to keep a default Contacts account on all your devices, that way if you create a new contact on your phone, and the default Contacts on your phone and Mac are both set to iCloud, then it adds to your iCloud contacts on both, and not Gmail on one and iCloud on the other, Hope that makes sense.
Here’s a good guide:
https://support.apple.com/guide/contacts/add-contacts-from-icloud-google-and-more-adrb7e5aaa2a/mac
Likewise, also before making any changes, it’s good to export your contacts for each account as a backup before making any changes:
Export and Archive Contacts on Mac:
https://support.apple.com/guide/contacts/export-and-archive-contacts-adrbdcfd32e6/mac
Also, once exported, you can, if you need to, combine the contacts from each account, then choose one default account to prevent confusion in the future and have them all sync together harmoniously!
All the best let me know if you have any questions glad to help if I can!
See the article https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/icloud/mmfba73312/icloud
You have to manually delete each group , duplicate contacts can be merged groups never , also contacts sync , groups don't sync .
remove duplicate groups in contacts